The orc territory was officially called Durotar by the orcs themselves. It was vast, much bigger than either the territory of the devils or Grigori. The orcs have expanded their lands through relentless expasionism and brutal conquests. The orc race was divided into many clans, each controlled by a Warchief, who rule a chunk of the conquered territory like a king. These clans secured their territories with countless encampments and bases to station their warriors and also to serve as defences in case of foreign attack.
But these defences were put to the test when the three factions invaded.
It was just a normal day in one of the countless orc encampments. They have just woken up from their nightly slumber. Most of the orcs were still asleep after a whole night of feasting and drinking ale, the minority that were already awake were still feeling the side effects of the heavy alcohol. But not all orcs were drunk and tipsy, some orcs were on guard duty.
"Keep moving you wretches, stop slowing down!"
"Anyone who stops will be slaughtered!"
There were a few orcs that served as slavemasters in the encampments. With whips in their hands, they forced the slaves that they captured from their countless plunders to work hard labor. The slaves consisted of different types of races. The majority of slaves were a race that suffered the most from the brutallity of the orcs, the elves. They have been once a proud race that govern the mystical forests of the human world with great power over nature and mastery of the bow and arrow, but when the orcs expanded their territory, even the human world was within their grasps. The advancement of human civilization and mass deforestation, coupled by the relentless attacks of the orcs, destroyed the elven kingdoms. As a result, they took shelters to other factions, but many were captured and enslaved by the orcs.
There were many devils and fallen angels as well, considering that they were the neighbouring factions. These devils were merely citizens from the countryside of their territory, the same country side that boardered the land of the orcs. The fallen angels were also captured after several of their settlements were attacked.
However, each slave that were forced into hard labor was male as the orcs have other purposes for the female slaves.
The slaves marched in a line, each carried a large piece of lumber. They stacked the lumbers on a large pile within the encampment before they were forced to march out to gather more wood. These lumber would be loaded to carriages to be transported to larger bases to be used for industrial purposes.
The slaves were forced to work for hours on end with little to no rest and limited food and water. As a result, they were malnurished. Their bodies were very thin, to the pointed that their skeletons outline their flesh. Whenever a slave would slow down, the slavemasters would whip their backs so hard it would leave several thin bleeding wounds and since the slaves were very weakened, they suffered constant whipping which left horrific wounds on their backs.
"March you miserable lot!" One slavemaster shouted as he whipped yet another slave on the back, causing the poor soul to cry out in pain as he forced his feet to move as hard as they could. "Bring in more of those lumber!"
"What are you doing, move!" Another slavemaster kicked a slave that slowed down, knocking him straight to the ground before hitting him with the whip. "You useless lump of meat, move faster!"
"You, why are you stopping!?" Another one grabbed a slave by the hair that collapsed on the ground due to extreme exhaustion.
"P-Please... have m-mercy...!" The slave uttered the words fearfully as he saw the slavemaster pulling out an axe instead of a whip.
"No mercy for you, little elf!" The slavemaster said before he mercilessly and effortlessly decapitated the elven slave.
The headless body collapsed on the ground bleeding while the head was still held by the orc's hand.
"Feed this disgusting corpse to the hounds" The slavemaster ordered the nearby slaves as he threw the head on ground before he turned to the other slave behind the one that was killed. "Pick those lumber up and move!"
Whenever a slave slowed down, the slavemasters merely whipped them. But when a slave stopped, they would be killed on the spot and force the one next to them to carry the lumber in their place. It was a brutal treatment but it was how the orcs get the work done.
"Where is the commander?" One orc asked a sentry nearby. "I must have a word with him"
"He is inside his quarters" The sentry said before granting his brethren entry.
Each encampment has a commander that governed it. These orcs were granted such a position for their strength as they were stronger than ordinary grunts. They see to the encampments and report back to the Warchief of the clan they belong to. But as long as they obey their higher-ups and do not cause harm to the clan, they can do whatever they want within the encampment they belong to.
"Commander, I have a report from our scouts" The orc that had entered said.
The commander's quarters was wide and was messy. Rotten meat and bones from unfinished meals were litered everywhere. The smell of heavy alcohol was thick in the air. On the center of the quarters was a wide bed where the commander was sleeping on but the most noticeable part of the room was the fact that over a dozen female slaves laid all around the quarters. Each woman was stripped bare with scratches and bruises all over their bodies after being ravaged by the commander over and over again.
"Our scouts have reported that they have sighted outsiders, commander" The orc reported. "They have tespassed within our territory"
Awakened by the voice of his subordinate, the commander sat up on his bed and forcefully pushed the woman that he forced on top of him the night before like she was a just a mere object.
"It must be some stray devils again" The commander said in a deep voice. "Send some warriors to capture them"
"We have sent a group already commander" The orc said. "But they have not returned since, it has been three hours now"
"What!? Then send another group with more warriors this time!"
"We already sent a second group right after but we've lost contact with them too commander!"
The commander widened his eyes after hearing this.
"Gather the rest of the warriors!" The commander roared. "Fortify our defences!"
"At once commander!"
Out of the sudden, an unexpected explosion erupted nearby and shook the ground.
"What's happening!?" The commander shouted as he and his subordinate rushed outside to see a battle unfold.
A large fire raged throughout the encampment, burning down the buildings it touches. Winged soldiers outnumbered the orcs they battled with, slaughtering them mercilessly. The other orcs that were sleeping were awakened by the sudden attack but they were slain before they could even have a chance to pick up their weapons.
"W-What is this...?" The commander was bewildered as he saw the enemies that attacked his encampment out of nowhere. "Angel... devils... fallen angels!?"
The ones that attacked the orcs were a small group that consisted of the soldiers of the three factions. But they were not the only ones that were present, the orc commander could see dragons amongst their enemies as well. Said dragons were responsible for the blazing fire that scorched the encampment into ashes.
"So you must be the commander of this outpost"
The orc commander turned around and looked up to see a tall dragon towering before him. Seeing this dragon filled the orc commander with fear as he knew his identity.
"Blaze Meteor Dragon!"
"Pay for all of your sins orc!" The dragon shouted before he breath out a giant fireball which pulverized the orc commander and the surrounding ground around him. The force of the fire breath was so powerful that it erupted a very powerful shockwave which easily blew away the nearby buildings within range, it was like a meteor struck the ground.
With the orc commander dead, the leaderless warriors were quickly slain one by one by the combined forces of the angels, fallen angels and devils.
"Lord Tannin!" A dragon with blue scales appeared. "We have found the captured prisoners!"
"Good!" The Blaze Meteor Dragon, Tannin nodded. "Free them all and take them back to the headquarters"
"At once, Lord Tannin!" The dragon said before he flew away.
The orcs served as formidable foes. They possess superior strength, durability and endurance, capable of taking large amounts of damages before finally falling to the ground. Even a simple orc still possess superior physical attributes compared to normal devils, angels and fallen angels. But due to the unexpected ambush and the fatigue conditions of the orcs from late night drinkings made it easier for the three faction soldiers to win the battle.
Once the orcs were all killed and the encampment secured, the soldiers of the three faction and the dragons liberated the prisoners and slaves there. They gathered the slaves up in several groups and teleported each group to safety one by one via magic circle to be treated. Tannin watched the scene a few meters away, he saw the marks on each one of their bodies which were the result of constant torment and abuse from the orcs, their hollow eyes looked like they were broken inside.
It filled Tannin with disgust on how the orcs treated these poor souls.
"How horrible..." The same blue dragon from earlier said right next to Tannin. "These orcs have no sympathy!"
Tannin could feel the anger boiling from his subordinate through his words alone.
"What's worse is that this is merely one of the many outposts that are scattered throughout their territory" Tannin pointed out. "There is no telling how many slaves are in their possessions or how gruesome they are treated"
"If that's the case, we must make haste Lord Tannin!" The blue dragon suggested. "We must attack the next outpost immediately and liberate the prisoners"
"Immediately after we send these ones to safety" Tannin responded.
The three factions have finally launched a full-scaled invasion on the orc territory. They have mustered up tens of thousands of soldiers each and sent them to ravage Durotar and destroy each outposts on their way and kill all of the orcs on sight. The leaders have divided their forces into small groups to raid these outposts and liberate the prisoners from the grasps of the orcs while maintaining the bulk of their army at bay in case of a massive counter attack.
"Lord Tannin has successfully secured his assigned target outpost sir, minimal casualties reported"
The headquarters of the three faction was located within the boarder of the devil territory where the majority of their forces were stationed.
"Order him to raid another outpost north-west from his position after he sends back the prisoners"
"Yes sir!"
"Sir, we have reports of a small army of orcs are approaching Unit 23 from the east. Estimated numbers around 200"
"Tell Unit 23 to retreat south and regroup with Unit 15 to intercept the enemy group"
"At once sir!"
At the head of command was one of the four maous, Falbium Asmodeus. As the head of the military affairs of the devils, he was appointed the head of strategies in the army. He initiated and took control of the attacks, picking off one orc encampment at a time.
"Any signs of a large counter measures from our enemies?"
"Nothing at the moment"
A few feet away from where Falbium was at, two other leaders of the three faction were also present. One was Sirzechs and the other was Azazel.
"However, we must expect a counter attack soon" Sirzechs continued his response to Azazel's question. "With this much commotion, the Jade Hammer clan would surely send a large number of their forces soon"
The name of the orc clan that they attacked first was the Jade Hammer clan. The territory of that clan was the one right next to the devil countryside where the constant attacks happened. It was the territory the devils would step into once they cross the boarder.
"Yeah, and when that happens there might be a few orc elites marching alongside the main army" Azazel predicted. "We must be prepared for that kind of scenario"
The Jade Hammer clan's total number of warriors was unknown but they were positive that there would be tens of thousands of them, possibly a few hundred thousand at best. With a clan that big there would be an abundant amount of strong fighters amongst their ranks.
"Speaking of which, has there any word from the greeks?" Sirzechs asked, changing the subject. "How is their condition?"
Sirzechs couldn't help but feel concern about the Olympians after their crushing defeat to defend the realm of the dead from the Red Legions. The last time that he checked the Olympian pantheon was reorganizing their forces again after their losses.
"They are still determined to liberate the realm of the dead" Azazel responded. "They're pretty upset about the fact that the realm of the dead had been taken from them and their god of war slain"
"I'm sure that Lord Zeus would not do something so rash and invade the realm of the dead recklessly"
"For now we should focus on our own invasion"
The two leaders' attentions were drawn to a devil soldier entering the command center. What caught their attention was the fact that this soldier was not one of their own but a soldier that served under the senate.
"Greetings Lord Sirzechs, I bring word from Senator Valados"
"What is the news of the other front?"
Like the four maous, the senate had also participated in the invasion of Durotar. They have opened another front to battle another orc clan, the neighbour of the Jade Hammer clan that they were attacking. But the bulk of the fallen angel and the angel forces were on the side where Sirzechs and the other maous fought. The senate only commanded devil forces on their side with minimal support from their allied factions. This was due to the reason that they refuse the aid of the fallen angels and angels, stating that they are more than capable of combating the orcs with only the forces of the devils.
"Our scouts have detected a large orc force massing nearby" The soldier reported. "The senate expects you to crush that force before they could march to our territory"
"We will get rid of that threat immediately" Sirzechs said.
"Unfortunately Lord Sirzechs, Lord Valados has also ordered that all foot soldiers, peerages and support teams report to the second front immediately" The soldier said, causing Sirzechs to narrow his eyes. "The senator expects you to order them to move out as soon as possible"
"So he expects me to transfer the bulk of my forces to the senate's side before I attack the orcs?
"The senate has great confidence in your... abilities, as well as your new allies Lord Sirzechs. They expect you to be creative"
With those words, the senate loyalist soldier left the command center.
"The senate is doing this on purpose Sirzechs" Azazel said. "If you ask me, they ordered most of the devil forces to go to their side to portray to the public that the senate is the one leading the attack, despite the invasion being your idea"
"I understand that" Sirzechs said with a stoic tone. "I'm starting to hate the senate..."
It was then hen a soldier approached Sirzechs. This time however, it was one of his subordinates.
"Lord Sirzechs, Lady Rias requests your attendance" The soldier said with a salute
"Rias?" Sirzechs asked, wondering what Rias wanted from him.
It had been around an hour after the three Red Legions marched out of the Azrallian fortress within the realm of the dead. They have been tasked to hunt down and utterly destroy the last remaining pocket of resistance by the grim reapers. By Issei's will, he had accompanied this force in person. He sat on a floating platform made out of gold instead of walking on foot. This floating platforms were normally used by the generals and other high-ranking Azrallian individuals whenever they go on a march with the legions. The platform that Issei rode on however, was different. It was larger and much grander than the ones that the generals use. On top of that platform was a dais with a royal throne on the top for him to sit on. A wide roof was on top of this platform to shield the ones inside from the sun, rain and other undesirable weather.
Issei sat on the throne, patiently waiting for their arrival. Sitting in such a royal place didn't bring any comfort to Issei before but after being literally treated like a king, he had grown used to it. Seven individuals stood around Issei's throne, guarding him well from any dangers. These people were the Praetorian Guards themselves. As the head of the Praetorian Guards, Veronica naturally stood on his right while Primus stood on his left, as the viceroy of the empire. The other five, Moka Akashiya, Zoro Roronoa, Yuno Gasai, Kurumi Tokisaki and Kuesu Jinguji, stood on the lower part of the dais.
"Hey Veronica" Issei said, breaking the silence and causing the head guard to look at him.
"Yes, my beloved?"
"I remember correctly that you said that there were eight Praetorian Guards in total, but so far I've only seen seven of you. Where's the eighth one?"
"The eighth Praetorian Guard is on another seperate mission right now my beloved and I'm afraid that she will not be able to meet you after quite some time"
"So the eighth is a female, I see"
"Yes, she is. She is as powerful as she is capable, my beloved. I am sure that she will serve you as well as we do"
The eighth Praetorian Guard was completely unknown to Issei. The only thing that he knew about her was that she was one of his guards and that's it. He had never met her ever since he found out about the Azrallian Empire. In fact, he had never seen her at all. He couldn't help but wonder what kind of mission was she on for her to be away for so long.
"Anyway, where are these grim reapers?" Issei asked, he had waited patiently but all the marching was starting to get to him.
"We are nearing their camp now, my beloved" Veronica responded. "I assure you that those walking corpses will pay for targeting your sister"
"Oh they will pay, alright..." Issei said in a soft yet dangerous voice, his fist was clenched tight on the armrest of the throne.
A few seconds later, a large and intimidating man appeared on the platform via magic circle. He was muscular and was equipped with a full-bodied armor.
This was one of the generals that were in charge of leading the three legions, the Lightning General Budo.
"Supreme One, I have recieved reports from our scouts" Budo said as he dropped on one knee before Issei. "They reported that the grim reapers have abandoned their encampment and have fled to the mountainous regions"
"I figured as much. Having such a large force marching around would be easily detected after all" Primus commented before he turned his head to his fellow Praetorian Guard right beside the Blood Lord. "I suggest we should send our cavalry and wyverns out, they will be much faster than our infantry"
"That would be advisable but I have a better solution" Veronica's smile widened. "How about we test one of your little toys, Primus? It is a perfect chance to showcase the results of our labor to my beloved"
"I see, that is a great idea" Primus said, he had been wanting a chance to showcase the newly developed weapons to the Blood Lord and what better chance than at that moment? "Then Supreme One, let me introduce you our latest technology"
At the general's command, the legions were brought to a halt for moment. With a clap of Primus' hands, a large magic circle appeared on the center of the space which summoned an usual invention.
It was a huge floating battleship completely made out of steel. It was around 417 meters in length and about 130,000 tons with around four thousand crew members on board. Its appearance was like a combination between a modern day battleship and a military submarine. It was armed multiple small cannons, many were pointed downwards to target enemies from below and the rest were mounted on top to target enemies from above. But its main armaments were large naval artilleries which possessed triple cannons each. There were two artilleries on the front deck and another two on the rear deck, possessing four armaments in total. A large thruster could be seen on the rear end of the battleship, it was powered solely by magic energy. Of course, a battleship was not complete without the flag of its motherland. Five flags were visible on deck, a set of two on the front, a set of two on the back and one large flag on the main deck, the flag of the Azrallian Empire.
"Surpreme One, I present to you the Avalon Battleship" Primus proudly presented. "Completely manifactured by our own Azrallian factories. These will serve as our main battleship, we are planning to produce large numbers of them while carefully maintaining their quality each"
Issei stood up his throne and descended down the stairs of the dais. Naturally, both Veronica and Primus followed closely behind. Issei stopped at the edge of the platform, giving himself a good view of the floating battleship that was presented before him. He silently inspected the ship, his eyes darted across the hull and onto the armaments. It was a huge ship indeed, Primus stated that he they were planning to build more ofmthese things but he didn't know how many would be built, all he knew was that a lot would be constructed. He sighed as not only does he command an army that was over a million strong but now he has an fleet of flying battleships.
The Praetorian Guards saw the sigh that Issei released which gave them an uneasy feeling. They weren't sure how their creator would react to their invention or whether he would like it or not. Primus was the one in charge of the development of the weapons so he was the one that felt uncomfortable the most. If the Blood Lord didn't like the design of the battleship or found anything that was lacking then he would immediately halt the production of the battleships and order a complete redevelopment of the design, he would not stop until the Supreme One is satisfied.
"Is the battleship acceptable, Supreme One?" Primus asked, he was eager to know Issei's answer and hoped that it pleased him.
"Will this be able to get rid of those grim reapers, Primus?" Issei responded with his own question.
"Of course Supreme One" Primus responded. "Their weaponry is carefully developed with our latest military technology. I am sure that these ships will meet your expectations, Supreme One"
Issei then turned to face Primus.
"Use these ships and hunt each of those grim reapers down!" Issei ordered. "I want them dead before they could reach Aiko's soul!"
Primus smiled as the Supreme One wasn't disappointed in his work.
"Don't forget to capture their leader" Issei added. "If anyone knows where Aiko's soul is it's got to be him"
"It shall be done, Supreme One!" Primus responded to his orders.
The crew of the Avalon Battleship rushed to prepare the ship for deployment. The engine of the battleship roared, setting the entire machine in motion.
"I'll go with this ship" Issei to Veronica, who responded with a nod.
"It shall be done, my beloved" Veronica responded.
Issei and his Praetorin Guards got off the floating platform they rode on and headed straight for the stern ramp which was wide open already. The floating platform was not meant for aerial travel so they decided to board the ship instead. Inside the ship was quite spacious, the floor alongside the walls and the ceiling were made out of reinforced iron materials. Issei had never been inside a ship before, let alone a flying battleship of all things, so everything was very new to him.
"This is the section where we could board our forces, Supreme One" Primus explained. "These ships are capable of boarding around a few thousand legionaries each. This way, we will be able to traverse any difficult terrain faster and safer"
"No wonder this place is huge" Issei said as he looked around the place. "How many ships have been built so far?"
"According to recent reports, around 12 have been completed but only 8 are ready for deployment, including this one" Primus said. "This is just one of a few variety of ships we plan to build"
"What kind of other battleships?"
"We are planning to construct other types battleships, including bigger and more powerful ones"
Issei couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. The ship was really huge already, bigger than most ships out there and yet Primus had plans to contruct larger ones. It made Issei a bit curious to how these other battleships will turn out to be like.
"Apart from the completion of the battleships, we are also focusing on training the crew themselves. Once a ship has been completed, we immediately assign suitable crew members for it and have them do military exercise"
"I guess this battleship and the crew have completed that exercise then, considering that you already deployed this one first"
"That it correct, this battleship and the crew were the first ones to complete the exercises. They have proven their worth and are ready for combat. I hope their abilities meet your expectations"
"As long as they get rid of those grim reapers, I have no complaints"
The Avalon Battleship was designed for all out war, its powerful armaments and sturdy armor were meant to combat enemy armies. Even if the Blood Lord and the Praetorian Guards were on board, they would not even need to lift a single finger to dispatch a handful of grim reapers. Primus had seen the firepower of the battleship during the military exercises and he was confident that the ship alone was more than enough.
Primus couldn't help but smile inside, he was very eager to please the Blood Lord with the weapon developments.
The doors of the bridge parted open before Issei and his Pratorian Guards marched in. The second they stepped foot in the bridge, the officers inside turned their attention and saluted their superiors.
"Hail the Supreme One!"
The officers greeted Issei's arrival in unison.
It is an honor to be blessed by the Supreme One's graceful presence" The captain of the ship stepped forward and dropped on one knee before Issi, the other lower-ranked officers followed rigth after him.
"No need to bow, get up" Issei said, he was honestly tired on how many times he would tell the Azrallians to get up after they bow to him. "So you are the captain of this ship?"
"Yes, Supreme One" The captain nodded his head. "However, this ship is completely your ownership, not mine. I was only given the privelage to command it while recieving your graceful orders"
"Then I guess you already know my orders" Issei said. "I want this ship to kill the grim reapers after the soul, nonemof them must survive"
"I hear and obey your orders!" The captain proudly declared. "With this mighty ship, we shall bring down the mighty sword of our empire upon these unfortunate reapers, initiate Acceleration Leap!"
At the captain's orders, the crew began to set in motion.
"What are you planning to do?" Issei asked with curiousity.
"The Acceleration Leap, Supreme One" The captain responded. "We will use this to fasten our travel"
"It is one of the capabilities of the Avalon Battleship, Surpeme One" Primus added more explanations. "Every Avalon Battleship can use the Acceleration Leap to travel at blistering speed within a range of one kilometer or less within a mere few seconds. With this, we can either catch up with fleeing enemies from a distance away or retreat safely"
"That's very convenient but does it have any drawbacks to it?" Issei asked. "Will everyone on board be alright travelling such speed?"
"We have done many tests already and even included this in the military drills" Primus responded. "I could assure you that it is perfectly safe for everyone inside. The only downside to this was the fact that if a ship uses an Acceleration Leap, it must need some time to recharge its energy right after use before another leap could be available"
"That's good to hear, you have my permission to use this Acceleration Leap" Issei said, the sooner they could get their hands on the grim reapers the better.
"Acceleration Leap is ready sir!" One of the crew members announced.
"Initiate the leap now!" The captain ordered.
"Initiating Acceleration Leap in three... two... one... launch!"
The thruster on the rear blasted a large amount of energy, thrusting the entire battleship forward with blistering speed. The battleship rocket through the sky to hunt down the grim reapers.
His vision was blurry but Silvers slowly opened his eyes. "Hey... hey Silvers..."
He could faintly hear another person calling out to him but. It took him a second before he regained his consciousness back and recognized the person calling him.
"Can you hear me? Hey Silvers!"
"Vladima?"
Silvers then realized that the person calling for him was his companion, Vladima. She was laying on the bed relaxing inside a cell right across the cell he was inside of. Silvers on the other hand, woke up from the cold concrete ground.
"What the... where are we?" Silvers asked as he realized the situation they were in.
"Inside a dungeon in the Underworld" Vladima responded. "Apparently we got framed by the daughters big time and ended up here"
Silvers stood up and walked to the bars. He could feel powerful sealing magic within each of the bars. Not only that but the floor, walls and ceiling were empowered by reinforced spells to prevent the prisoner inside from escaping.
"I guess bashing out of this cell with brute force is out of the question" Silvers said with a sigh.
"Forget it, if that works I would have been free an hour ago" Vladima said with an annoyed tone.
"An hour?" Silvers realized what she said. "How long was I out?"
"If I could guess... one or two hours at best" Vladima responded. "Tracking time isn't something I would do in this kind of situation anyway"
Silvers then recalled what happened before he lost consciousness. He went back to help out Vladima but was captured by the soldiers once he got there. He also remembered how Kiba acted as a decoy to lure most of the soldiers away.
"Shit... where's Kiba?" Silvers asked with a worried tone.
"I haven't seen him since we got here" Vladima responded. "It's either he's in another cell or he's still out there"
"I hope he's alright" Silvers muttered, unlike him Kiba was just dragged into the mess. The blonde merely tried to protect him and as a result, he was in the same situation as Silvers.
"I'm sure your little boyfriend is still out there" Vladima assured him. "If he is, then the soldiers probably would just leave him alone"
Silvers was accused of associating with an Azrallian by the soldiers. They claimed that the Azrallian was Vladima, which they also strongly claimed that she was not an assassin of the senate. On the other hand, Vladima claimed that she was under the senate's command whose identity was classified. Silvers didn't know which claims were true but he decided to stick to Vladima. He would rather believe the person that saved him rather than tha person that arrested him for some bullshit reason.
"I need to get in contact with the senate in some way" Vladima said. "I'll have the senators talk some sense into these bastards"
"Don't bother, I doubt even the senate would help us after what the daughters did" Silvers said with a soft voice as he remembered what happened.
"What do you mean?" Vladima asked. "What did they do?"
Vladima was unconscious when it happened so Silvers knew that she had no idea what happened so he decided to tell her. He told her how the daughters killed their own kin, who were in the disguise of devil soldiers, just to showcase to the captain and the real soldiers that Silvers was associated with them.
Hearing this, Vladima clicked her tongue out of annoyance.
"Very clever of those fucking bitches" Vladima said with a hint of anger in her voice. "To think that they would go that far just to fuck with us, they must really hate you"
"They do" Silvers said. "I befriended and tried to assassinate their leader after all"
"The Blood Lord... how'd you even get close to him with the Praetorian Guards around?"
"I just did, when we fought... he fought me alone. When I wounded him, one of the guards attacked. I managed to escape but barely"
"And now they sent the Daughters of Darkness for your ass. You do know that they're enjoying what happened to you right now, they want to see you suffer as much as possible before they finally kill you"
"Whatever they'll do, I won't allow them to kill me" Silvers said with determined eyes. "I still have so much to live for... I still have someone to go back to..."
Silvers then remembered a certain crimson-haired Gremory girl that he loved so dearly. That very same person, who showed him kindness like no other.
"I still haven't told her what I really feel about her" Silvers added.
He was so determined to live that even Vladima could feel his resolve through his words alone.
"Well, since we're both in the same position then I'll help you out" Vladima said with a smirk. "I'll get you to your little girlfriend before you even know it"
Silvers heard Vladima and smiled. "Thanks, I appreciate it. But we still need to find a way to get out of here"
"I already have something in mind" Vladima said before she got off her bed and stretched her arms. She then took out a small plastic bottle from under the pillow she laid on.
"Where'd you get that?" Silvers asked, he was sure that every possession that the prisoners had would be confiscated by the guards before they throw them into the cell so Vladima must have hidden that water bottle somewhere where even the guards couldn't find.
"I got my ways" Vladima merely responded.
Silvers was caught completely off guard when Vladima stripped right down to her lingerie with no hesitation or even a hint of shyness, despite being right in front of Silvers. She had a voluptous shape with all the right curves, her smooth skin seemed to glow within the gloomy environment of the dungeon they were in.
"What are you trying to doing?" Silvers asked, he was more confused than aroused at that moment but that still didn't stop the light blush on his face. Having a woman as attractive as Vladima reduced to her lingerie would have its effects even against a trained assassin.
"Having a female body has a lot of advantages, especially against male opponents" Vladima said as she poured some light water from the bottle onto herself.
Silvers had a good idea what her intentions was, he only hoped that it would work.
The grim reapers travelled through the mountanous regions of the realm. They have laid multiple traps behind their trails, even going so far as to place explosives on rocky edges of the mountain to bring down avalanches on the Red Legions hunting them.
"No need to rush my brethren" The leader of the grim reapers announced as his subordinates travelled through the rocky terrain pf the mountain. "While the Azrallians are busy chasing us down, the others are on their way to retrieve the target soul"
"What does one mere human soul serve the Blood Lord anyway?" A high-class grim reaper asked the leader.
"I don't know but the ferryman Kharon had clearly stated that the Blood Lord has great interest to this soul" The leader responded. "Our job is to retireve the soul and present it to Lord Hades, I am sure that the pantheon will find out the reason why the Blood Lord wants the soul once they get their hands on it"
"I have a bad feeling about this leader" The high-class grim reaper said. "The Azrallians have defeated the army of Lord Hades and the army of his brothers at the same time, it is unlikely that we could just simply out ruh them"
"All we need is to occupy them for the moment until our brethren succeeds in the search" The leader said. "Do not worry, with an army that large it will take them a very long time to traverse the mountain"
Unlike the Azrallians that brought tens of thousands of forces, there were only several hundred grim reapers in total. With such a smaller number compared to their enemies, the grim reapers are able to travel faster compared to the Azrallians. Even if the infantry could levitate in mid air, they would still lack the speed necessary to catch up so the only threat to them were the wyverns. The leader of the grim reapers already suspected that the Azrallians would know this and send their wyverns out. If so, the grim reapers would just lead the wyverns to dangerous places like ravines, caves and valleys and use explosive magic to rain down boulders on them.
"Hehe, those Azrallians will never reach the soul in time" The leader of the grim reaper grinned with confidence, he was certain that they will succeed.
But he was proven wrong when a sudden explosion erupted nearby, catching him and the rest of the reapers off guard.
"What happened!?" The leader shouted in demand.
At first the leader thought that one of his subordinates accidentally set the explosive charges off but he quickly scratched that assumption off when another explosion occured on another location nearby followed by another explosion and another one. The crimson-colored fire spread out from every explosion, scorching the land and the reapers alike with unbearanle heat.
"What's going on!?" The leader demanded once more, he was now certain that whatever those explosions were, it was not caused by them.
"Sir, multiple hostiles have been detected to the east!"
The leader turned and widened his eyes when he saw what seemed like a flying battleship high in the sky. The battleship fired the cannons of the front deck forward, each shot released thunderous sounds. The crimson energy projectiles that were launched from the cannons exploded upon contact to the ground, obliterating any unfortunate grim reaper that was nearby the blast radius and spreading out the crimson wildfire that burnt many of his subordinates.
"A-Are those... the Red Legions!?" The leader of the grim reapers exclaimed in terror.
At first the leader wasn't sure if the flying ship was indeed the Red Legions. He expected marching armies at best since his scouts reported that to him. But after seeing the Azrallian flags on the battleship, there was no doubt about it that it belonged to their invaders.
"Leader, we need to retaliate!" A random grim reaper nearby shouted as more and more burning projectiles rained down upon them which widened the sea of crimson flames. "Leader, give us your orders now!"
The leader of the grim reapers already knew that a direct confrontation against Red Legions would devastate them completely. Their mission was to supposedly distract the Azrallians as long as possible so that the group that had been sent to retrieve that target soul would succeed, not engage them directly.
So the leader issued the best order he could give.
"Retreat!" The leader shouted. "All reapers, retreat immediately!"
Hearing the shout of their leader, the grim reapers all scattered, each trying to escape with their lives. The crimson fire had already spread all around the area, reaching up fro, eight to ten meters high, making it very difficult to flee on foot which resulted in most grim reapers trying to fly over the fire despite the scorching heat it released upwards.
Unsuspectingly, something hit the ground with such force that the shockwave was enough to send multiple rocks that formed the ground flying in mid air, alongside any nearby grim reapers and crimson fire.
"What is it!?" The leader exclaimed out loud, whatever landed on the ground created a more powerful blast than the projectiles that the battleship bombarded them with. In fact, the battleship strangely stopped firing its cannons after that recent blast.
The grim reapers would soon find out that whatever made that blast did not come from the cannons nor any weaponry on the battleship.
It was another type of terror which took a form of a young innocent-looking girl.
"Which one of you is the leader of this group?" A sweet-sounding voice of a young girl was heard within the cloud of dust that was made by the blast followed by a very powerful energy which thicked the atmosphere around the grim reapers.
When the dust cloud finally dispersed' the grim reapers all paled at what they saw.
"A Praetorian Guard!"
Yuno Gasai stood on the center of the crater she caused when she landed. She was dressed in her full-bodied armor made out of iron and steel complete a helmet that covered most of her head, only leaving small few opening around her face. With a very powerful aura shrouding her entire body, she dared any grim reapers to try and attack her.
Yuno's eyes glowed as she stared at the grim reapers. She could feel each and every energy signature within them which allowed her to calculate their exact power level. Some were stronger than the other and some were weaker but according to her, most of them belong to the same level of strength.
But her eyes landed to a single grim reaper which caught her attention the most. His energy signature was stronger than the most grim reapers which made him stand out to her.
"Are you the leader?" Yuno asked as she pointed at the grim reaper. "You are, aren't you?"
Yuno was correct, the grim reaper which she pointed at was in fact the leader.
"If you tell us where the soul is then I will let you live" Yuno said, her voice was sweet and calm yet her words were demanding.
But instead of the leader telling Yuno the location of the soul, four other grim reapers suddenly launches themselves at her.
"Don't underestimate us Azrallian scum!"
"We're not telling you anything!"
Yuno reacted quickly and slashed all four grim reapers into two with a single strike only. The object that she used was something she summoned before she attacked the four, which was a large battle axe. It's handle was made out of pure iron but the blade was made out of a crimson crystal material which shined on the light. Despite the size of the axe, Yuno was capable of easily swinging the weapon faster than the eye could see with only a single hand, a showcase of her monster strength.
More grim reapers charged at her but they too suffered the same fate as the first four, death by the Praetorian Guard's hands.
"Leader, you must flee!" A nearby grim reaper told the leader as more grim reapers distracted Yuno. "We will hold her off as you retreat, they must not know where the soul is before our brothers could get there!"
"I will leave you to it!" The leader of the grim reapers shouted, he turned around and unfolded his wings before he flew away.
Yuno hacked down all grim reapers that tried to attack her with no effort at all. Her eyes then landed on the sight of the leader flying away.
"I will not let you escape!" Yuno shouted before she disappeared in a blur from the spot she stood from.
The grim reapers that assaulted her thought she disappeared or teleported somewhere. Unknown to them, she merely used her natural speed. She was so fast that the grim reapers couldn't react nor see how she dashed from her previous spot to appear right in front of the leader of the grim reapers.
"Wh-What!?" The bewildered leader widened his eyes as he saw Yuno appeared right in front of him without warning.
With no hesitation, Yuno swung her axe and sliced both of the leader's arms which caused him to let out an agonizing scream before he crashed on the ground. Blood poured out of his severed arms. His screams attracted the attentions of his subordinates who quickly rushed to his aid but with another swing of her axe, Yuno generated a powerful blast of energy which devastated the incoming grim reapers, sending them flying and tearing their bodies into several pieces.
"Let's go now, the Supreme One is waiting" Yuno said as she summoned a magic circle beneath her and the wounded grim reaper leader to transport both of them back to the battleship.
Upon arriving, the grim reaper that was still on the floor saw himself inside a wide room made out of steel from floor to the walls and ceiling. There several lights in the ceiling which illuminated the entire room.
"Where am I?" The grim reaper asked.
The entire room was empty save for the grim reaper and the Praetorian Guard with only a single iron door that served both an entrance and an exit.
"It will all be over soon grim reaper" Yuno said with a calm and gentle voice.
The iron doors slid open and a small group of people entered the room. The grim reaper felt an intense atmosphere as he recognized the people that entered.
"Supreme One, I present to you the leader of the last remaining grim reaper resistance in this realm" Yuno said with a bow.
The ones that entered the room was Issei and his six Praetorian Guards. The doors immediately closed right after they entered and the room went silent. For the next few seconds, the Praetorian Guards stared at the grim reaper like he was some lower lifeform, just some worm within the presence of giants. But their gazes were nothing like the one that Issei himself gave to the grim reaper.
"The ferryman of the river told you the location of the soul I'm after... where is it?" Issei's voice was low, but his demand was precise. It was clear to him that he was not willing to hear anything but the information he was looking for.
"I'm afraid that you have mistaken someone else for me, Blood Lord" The grim reaper said. "I am only a mere servant that knows nothing but the orders I am told. Whatever what was told to you, I'm afraid it was simply a mistake on your en- aaagh!"
The grim reaper screamed in agony as Yuno cut both his feet right off with one effortless swing of her axe. The reaper rolled around on the ground in pain, both his arms and his feet were now severed.
"Please don't lie to the Supreme One" Yuno said with a gentle voice despite what she did a second ago.
Issei walked up to the suffering grim reaper and kneeled down in front of him. Despite the horrific state the grim reaper was in, Issei wasn't bothered at all. In fact, he was more bothered on how he was not effected by the sight of someone cutting off another person's feet.
"Tell me where she is now!" Issei demanded, his patience drained with every second that passed by.
Despite the danger he was in, the grim reaper gritted his teeth tight and refused to utter a single word.
"Supreme One, it appears that the mongrel does not want to give up the information" Kuesu said as she stepped forward and approached the bleeding grim reaper. "With your permission, I can enter his mind and view his memories of when he was informed by the ferryman"
Issei turned to Kuesu and asked. "You can read minds?"
"I certainly can" Kuesu nodded.
"Then why haven't you done it to Kharon before?" Issei asked. "It would be a lot easier if we get it out of him rather than hunt these grim reapers"
"Unfortunately my mind reading spells do not work on that ferryman" Kuesu said with a bit of frustration in her voice. "It appears that he is bound to the River Styx which makes any psychological abilities useless against him. Even my strongest mind reading spell is completely useless against him"
Kuesu was known as the strongest mage in all of the Azrallian Empire, second only to the Blood Lord himself in terms of magic. Armed with numerous spells and an almost infinite amount of magic energy to fuel them each, calling Kuesu a prodigy when it comes to magic was actually an understatement.
And if she could not use her mind reading spells on Kharon, what kind of being was he?
"Well it doesn't matter at this point, we got this guy now after all" Issei said, referring to the grim reaper. "If you can read his mind then do it, find anything that could link us to the location of Aiko's soul"
"Thy will be done, Supreme One" Kuesu bowed before she turned and stared down at the bleeding grim reaper.
She held out her palm towards the grim reaper and created a magic circle. The grim reaper was embedded with her magic energy. A second later, rapid flashes of memories entered Kuesu's mind. She searched through his memories for a few seconds. Since the Kharon had informed the grim reaper just happened recently, Kuesy easily found the information that she needed.
"I now have full knowledge to where the soul is, Supreme One" Kuesu proudly declared.
"Good job Kuesu" Issei said as he stood up.
Kuesu felt like she was blessed when Issei complimented her. It was only words to him but the magician felt like she had accomplished something great by providing assistance to him and the compliment was the reward that she wanted.
"What about the repear, Supreme One?" Yuno asked as Issei looked down on the bleeding grim reaper on the floor.
"He's one of the bastards that tried to steal Aiko's soul" Issei said with a cold voice and an equally cold stare. "Kill him"
The grim reaper paled when he heard Issei's command. He didn't even have a chance to react when Yuno, with a wide psychotic grin on her face, swung her axe and decapitated the grim reaper on the spot.
"Veronica, take us back to the bridge" Issei ordered.
"At once, my beloved" Veronica said before she summoned a magic circle on the floor where everyone stood up and transported them back to the bridge.
Upon arriving, the captain and the other officers of the battleship awaited their arrival.
"Your orders, Supreme One?" The captain eagerly asked.
"Kuesu knows where the soul is" Issei said. "Follow her directions and get us there immediately!"
"Yes, Supreme One!" The captain and the other officers responded in unison. "Prepare the another Acceleration Leap!"
"I will be taking command of the ship for now" Kuesu said as she stepped forward.
"It is our honor to serve, Lady Kuesu. Please lead the way" The captain said as he gladly passed the command of his battleship to the Praetorian Guard.
"What of the remaining grim reapers, my beloved?" Veronica asked. "We have disposed the majority of those filthy dogs but a few had fled deeper into the mountains"
"We don't have any time for them" Issei said. "We need to get the soul right now"
"We could use the three Red Legions we brought along to hunt them down" Primus informed. "I am sure that they will track down each and every last one of them"
"Whether they die or not it doesn't matter. We already got what we want and whatever happens to the other grim reapers is not my concern" Issei said. "But if you want to send the legions, I won't stop you"
"I propose that we send the Red Legions after them" Veronica said to Primus. "Having a few survivors after an attack by a force of the Praetorian Guards and this new battleship is unacceptable, after all"
"I agree, I shall inform the generals right now" Primus said as he contacted the generals of the three legions nearby through telepathy.
"Acceleration Leap is now ready!" A crew member announced.
"Max range to the North-West" Kuesu informed them of the location.
"Initiating in three... two... one... launch!"
With a powerful blast from the thrusters, the ship rocket to the direction that Kuesu gave them.
Rias was inside her room within the the Gremory manor. It was a wide room with high ceilings and luxurious furnitures, a very fitting room for a princess such as herself. She tried to see her brother but as one of the high-ups leading the invasion Durotar, she was unable to. So after she told one of the soldiers that she requested to talk with her older brother, she waited patiently for his response until a magic screen appeared in front of him which broadcast Sirzechs.
"Hello Rias" Sirzechs greeted. "I've heard that you want to talk to me about something?"
"Hey there big brother" Rias greeted back. "I hope I'm not disturbing you"
"I admit that we are very busy at the moment but if you could make it quick, I may be able to hear it" Sirzechs said, he had just finished up transferring the majority of his soldiers to the senate's battle front and was assembling what remained of his forces to eliminate a large group of orcs. But before he could order the attack, he responded to Rias' call first since his forces werw still being rallied.
"I'm not sure if this is going to be quick but I'll try to avoid taking a lot of your time" Rias said before she asked a question, one that Sirzechs wasn't prepared to hear. "I want you to tell me who is Issei Hyoudou, the Blood Lord and the Azrallian Empire"
If there are any mistakes in the storyline please PM so that I can take a look at it.